Beauty Is Found Within
by MBlackFlamesM
Summary: A boy gets cursed after showing no kindness and is forced to spend the rest of his life cooped up in his home that's become more like a prison. This story is inspired by Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
1. Chapter 1: Sky's Curse

**Chapter One: Sky's Curse**

It was on a rainy night it happened.

In a forest that lied outside of a city was a mansion. Said mansion belonged to a very wealthy and noble family. Said family though, had been shattered.

About four years ago there was a car accident. The parents and their oldest son died but the youngest survived and was left alone in the world.

The young boy was overcome by grief and closed of his heart. Though he may appear cold and uncaring on the outside, he really is just an alone and scared little boy, seeking acceptance. One who is waiting for someone to save him from this hell. An angel to guide him through life, teaching him the rights and wrongs. But that angel never appeared, and so, the boy grew up in that huge mansion all alone.

Raindrops pattered on the windows of the dark mansion. On a night such as this the mansion looked very eerie on the outside, though during the day, with the roses in full bloom, along with the big fountain in front, it looked like a warm, welcome home.

None of the lights were lit in the huge mansion, save for a few candles and the roaring fire in the sitting room. By the fire stood an armchair, and sitting in the armchair was a boy. The boy was no more than fourteen years old. His expression read of one who was bored. He held a book in his hands; glasses were on his face as he read line after line.

The room was silent – save for the crackling fire and pattering windows.

All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. The boy looked up, surprise showing in his dark eyes. The knocking came again and he wondered why none of the servants was opening. He then glanced over at the grandfather clock, it read that it was one in the morning. He sighed in annoyance, knowing that he must open it if he wanted any peace and quiet. He closed his book and removed the glasses, placing both objects on the small table sitting beside the armchair. He then got up and walked out of the room and into the big hallway. The knocking came once more before he walked over and reached for the handle.

He opened the door with ease and looked out. There on his doorstep stood an old lady. The old lady looked a bit funny to him. She had long gray hair, with black cat ears on her head. She wore an orange dress and light purple scarf around her neck. The boy noticed that she was holding an umbrella over her head and was surrounded by cats.

"Good evening," she greeted him with a small smile.

"Evening," he greeted back in indifference.

There was a small silence and as the silence stretched out, his patience was slipping away.

"What do you want?" he finally asked.

"I was wondering if you could give this old lady some shelter and food. In exchange of something of course," she said and reached over in her dress pocket as she pulled out a blue rose.

The boy looked at the rose with mild interest. He's never seen a blue rose before but even so he sneered at the gift. He looked at her face and also sneered at her appearance.

"I will give you nothing. Now leave," he said.

The old lady didn't budge, though her expression change slightly. Not wanting anything to do with the old hag anymore the boy took a step back, ready to close the door. A voice stopped him from doing this though.

"Something bad will fall upon you and your home. If you show no kindness towards anyone, no one will want you."

The words that the old lady had said hit hard. The last straw for his anger to break free.

"You don't know a shit about how I treat others! You just came here from who knows where and interrupted me! I ask – no – demand that you leave. Leave and never come back, you old hag!" with that he threw the door, closing and locking it.

He leaned on the great piece of wood, trying to calm himself, taking long, deep breaths.

When he had calmed down he was just about to leave when a knock came onto the door once again. The stillness of the mansion and him was once again shattered. The knocking didn't cease no matter how much time passed.

He finally gave in before it turned him insane. He unlocked and threw the door open.

"What the hell-"

He stopped speaking. He was stunned into silence of the person standing on his porch. It wasn't the old lady, no, this was a young girl. She had long brown hair as well as brown eyes. She wore a long red dress with the pattern of white flowers on the upper part of the dress.

The boy was captured by her beauty but he snapped out of his thoughts when she started speaking.

"You show absolutely no kindness or compassion. And you only care about beauty on the outside. I feel like unless you're taught a lesson you will never find real beauty." She reached over and pulled out the blue rose from before.

The boy was too stunned to do otherwise as she ripped the rose into bits and blew the petal pieces towards him. A blue light appeared making him shield his eyes, though it was gone as soon as it had arrived.

When he opened his eyes the girl was gone too. All that remained was the remains of the flower and something wrapped up in paper. He bent to pick up the object that was wrapped up before walking in, closing the door behind him. He locked the door for the second time before walking into the sitting room and to the armchair by the fire.

He sat down and then turned to the object in his hands. He slowly removed the wrappings till the object was revealed to him; it was a hand mirror and a note. He took the note, unfolding it slowly. On it was a message.

_It read:_

_I have placed a curse on you and your home. You will never be able to go outside without revealing the true monster that lies beneath that handsome face of yours. The mirror is for you to see how people outside of your home will see you. Take a look._

The boy looked confused for a moment before he lifted the mirror up. Who or rather what was staring back at him wasn't his usual handsome face, it was what the note had said, a monster.

He dropped the mirror to the ground which shattered. He noticed his hands were trembling and brought them up to run his fingers through his hair. The words of the old lady and girl, repeating in his mind.

_If you show no kindness towards anyone, no one will want you._

_You only care about beauty on the outside._

These words would haunt him forever.


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected Employment

**Chapter Two: Unexpected Employment**

Eight years later.

On a beach on south of the city called Konoha stood a man. The man had spiky golden-blond hair and blue eyes, his cheeks were marked with three perfect lines on his sun-kissed skin.

He was strolling around the beach, camera in hand as he once in a while stopped to take a picture. The view was fantastic. Waves were crashing onto the shore, the summer wind was blowing nicely, and the smell of salt water flowing into his nostrils was rather pleasant.

He strolled around the beach for a few more moments until his cell phone began ringing.

He let go of the camera, letting it hang over his chest before he pulled out his phone to answer.

"Hello?"

A familiar female voice answered. _"Hello Naruto! I have some exciting news. Are you free?"_

The blond glanced at his wristwatch; it read three-forty in the afternoon.

"Yeah, I'll just drop off at my place for a minute. Where should we meet?"

"_I think Ichiraku Ramen will be good. Shall we say in like… thirty minutes?"_

The sound of his favorite eating place brought a big smile on his lips. "I'll be there."

"_Great! See you then."_

"Bye."

With that they hung up and he put the phone back in his pocket. He looked around the beach, taking in the view one last time before he turned and left.

When Naruto came through the door he was greeted by three people. One of them was his roommate Gaara, and the others his siblings, Temari and Kankuro.

"Welcome back," the red-head greeted him with a smile. "How was it at the beach?"

"I'm back," the blond greeted back with his own smile as he went to his room. " It was nice. I got some really good pictures."

"Can I take a look?"

"Later. I'm going to meet up with Sakura-chan. She says she has some rather exciting news."

"Alright."

The blond walked over to the bed and sat down; wanting to go through the pictures he's taken. He knew most of them were good but you still needed to check if there were any blurry ones.

Ten minutes later he was done and out, on his way to Ichiraku's. When he walked into the restaurant his nose met the delicious scent of meat, pasta and soup. He looked around the place till he spotted a familiar figure sitting by a table on the far left corner. He walked forward with a smile gracing his lips.

"Good afternoon Sakura-chan," he greeted the pinkette and sat down opposite of his friend.

"Good afternoon Naruto," Sakura greeted back, a mischievous smile gracing her lips.

The blond grinned. "I know that look. You found something interesting, right?"

She nodded and opened up her purse. It took a few minutes before she pulled out three sheets of paper with pictures on them.

Like him, his friend's hobby was to take pictures too, though she liked to take pictures of people and animals while he liked to take of different kinds of scenery.

She gave him one of the pictures and he looked intently at it. It wasn't an animal or person, but a house, or well a mansion. It was a pretty good picture of the huge mansion. He noticed the place was surrounded by numerous trees, so a forest perhaps? There was a fountain in front made out of white marble, and bushes on the sides of the path leading up to the mansion.

"It's very nice," Naruto said and looked up. "But why the sudden change? You don't usually take these kinds of pictures."

The pinkette woman continued to smile, not saying anything as she presented the next picture.

The blond frowned slightly at his friend but said nothing more and looked down.

The next picture was taken a bit to the side, though that was not the only new thing. The blond noticed that someone or rather something was standing by the fountain. He couldn't see what it was and looked up at Sakura with a questioning look.

She understood and put the final picture on the table. He looked down and was met with the motionless yellow eyes of the mysterious creature. From what he could gather the creature had dark grey skin, blue lips, waist-length blue-grey hair and the yellow eyes that were looking up at nothing in particular.

He slowly looked up at Sakura who was grinning at him.

"It's cool isn't it?" she asked.

"Fascinating," he answered. "What is it?"

"I don't know, but I think it's a person."

_A person? This? No way._

They didn't talk much about the picture or the… creature as they ordered and began to eat. They made small talk, talking about what had happened lately in their lives, which wasn't much.

Though when their bowls were empty the pinkette looked up at the blonde, a kind of pleading look shining in her green eyes. The blond suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Sure..." he said, slightly uncertain of where this was going.

"Can you go to this place and take some pictures? Maybe capture a few of this person."

The blond was silent for a moment, then said, "Why?"

She shrugged. "Because you're better at taking these kinds of pictures. And you're sneakier than me, I was almost caught."

He gave the favor some thinking before he came to a conclusion. "I won't do it," he said flatly.

"Why not?"

"For numerous reasons. First, I will be taking pictures without the owner's permission. I will sneak around on the owner's property," he started saying, raising a finger for each reason. "I will also become consumed by my curiosity and maybe even break in."

His friend only smiled at him, though her smile faltered once she looked at his face. "Is there no way to change your mind?" she asked.

He shook his head and she began to look like she was going to cry till a sudden thought struck her.

"If you do this. I'll pay for the ramen we eat here for a week, starting today."

The blond's serious mask was shattered within seconds. _Bitch._ He thought wryly.

"Make it a month and I'll agree," he said, stretching his hand out to her.

"Done." She took the hand and they shook on it.

They finished up shortly after that and like promised Sakura paid for their food. She then told him about the place where she had taken the pictures before they went their separate ways.

When the blond got home Gaara was sitting on the couch watching TV. Neither Temari nor Kankuro were in sight. He walked over and sat down beside him.

"How did the meeting go?" the red-head asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"It went well. Sakura-chan had some picture she wanted to show me. She also wanted me to go to that place and take some myself." He kept quiet about where he was going to take pictures.

Gaara just nodded and they watched some TV together till it was time to cook dinner.

The rest of the evening went by quickly. Naruto ate, showered, brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas and crawled into bed.

As he lied there in the darkness he thought about the pictures Sakura had shown him. That creature… it had looked so lonely in the picture. He didn't dwell on the thought for too long though as he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him.

"I must be crazy," were the first words to leave Naruto's lips as he walked down the path leading to the forest Sakura mentioned. It lied on the west side of the city, not too far from his home, which was a relief.

He continued walking down the path till he reached the forest, and just within a few minutes was he looking up at the great mansion.

"Wow," he breathed out and took a step forward.

He stopped though when he noticed a figure standing by the fountain. By the shape and skin color it was the creature from that one picture.

He stepped to the side behind a tree, camera in hand as he watched the figure intently.

* * *

It had been eight years since that day.

Eight years since he had been cursed by that blasted girl. At first he had thought that it was only a joke, but no, as soon as he went out his handsome face melted and took the form of a monster. He hated the girl, the curse and his life.

His freedom had been taken away from him in the blink of an eye. He could no longer go out without showing his ugly self. And so he has never left.

Of course he went out every once in a while to sit by the fountain or see how the roses were doing. But he never left the forest, feeling that it wouldn't be safe to do so.

Today he went out to stand by the fountain. The weather was nice and it was quiet and peaceful. The air was clean and it had the sweet scent of flowers. He looked down in the water, yellow eyes looking back up at him. He had been so accustomed to seeing this face that he no longer flinched or glared. Instead he looked at his reflection with empty eyes, feeling nothing.

He let out a soft sigh and turned to look at the path leading away from the stillness of his home. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes before he turned and walked back in.

As soon as he stepped foot inside his home his face and body changed back to its former self. Grey skin turned lighter into a creamy white color, his cat-like claws shrunk back to nails, his hair shortened and color changed, at last his eyes changed from yellow to black.

He closed the door from behind him and walked in and up the stairs. A warm bath wouldn't hurt right about now.

* * *

Naruto stood stock still. His blue eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

He snapped out of it once the door closed.

_What the hell was that?_ He thought, having a bit of a difficulty into processing what he had just witnessed.

He waited for a minute before he walked forward to the fountain. As he walked he noticed a new scent coming from somewhere near him. He looked to his right and saw the white flowers decorating the bushes. He smiled and carefully caressed a petal.

He grabbed hold of his camera and began to snap, taking pictures of the rosebushes and the fountain.

Suddenly, he realized that he was standing in front of the mansion. He was barely three feet away from the door. He was uncertain on what to do. He shouldn't go in because that would be wrong, but he was too curious about that creature, or person, or whatever the hell it was.

One part of his mind told him not to go in, to turn and leave. But the other part was telling him to find out what that was. How the creature he saw turn into something a little bit more human.

In the end his curiosity won over and he reached over for the handle. He easily opened the door and walked inside, closing it as quietly as he could behind him.

The inside was huge.

The floor was dark red carpet and the walls a soft brown color. There was a staircase in front of him leading up to the next floor. He looked to his right where an entrance leading to the next room looked to be some form of living room; the colors seemed to change in there as it looked browner. He then looked to his left where it seemed to lead to a kitchen. He pondered over where to go till he decided to go right.

Once he stepped into the room he tried to take in as much detail as he could. The walls were a beige kind of color and the floor brown carpet. He noted a fireplace on one side of the room with a black armchair sitting in front, and a small round wooden table beside it. There also were two couches on either side of a long brown coffee table. The only light in the room was coming from outside, where the sun was shining brightly. There also stood a grandfather clock to the wall close by the fireplace.

Naruto walked into the room and towards the fireplace. He looked at the mantel where he had noticed photographs of people, which he assumed were the owners.

There were three pictures in total plus a clear crystal rose lying on a velvet black pillow and a small white jewelry box.

He looked at the pictures first; the one on his left was of two young boys with a fair complexion, dark hair and eyes. The one in the middle was of a married couple, the woman wearing a beautiful white dress while holding a bouquet of red roses, and the man dressed up in a black suit. The last picture was of the couple and one of the boys. He noticed the woman had on a delightful expression with a hand over her stomach where he could see a slight bump.

He smiled at the pictures and then turned to the crystal rose and white box. The rose truly was a magnificent piece of work. He reached over a hand to it, not touching it though, only letting his hand hover over the rose.

He eventually moved his hand away and his gaze fell over the small box. He reached over and carefully picked it up before he opened the lid. His mind froze for a second at the small object inside. There on the small velvet cushion was a ring. The ring was unlike anything he's ever seen. It was a silver band with three tiny gemstones, one was an alexandrite, another amber, and the last a topaz.

He stared at it for what seemed like hours but was actually only five minutes. He finally closed the box and put it back on the mantel.

He then left the room to go into the kitchen on the other side. When he walked in seven words flashed across his mind.

_I feel very much out of place._ He thought and glanced down at his outfit. Since it was summer-time he had thrown on a pair of blue jeans and an orange t-shirt.

Here he was, a twenty-two year old man wearing casual clothes in a home where probably a bunch of nobles lived. He shook his head trying to get rid of these thoughts and glanced around the kitchen.

It was a bit smaller than the living room he had just been in. It had white tiled floors and powder-blue walls. The counters, cabinets, dishwasher, fridge and freezer were mostly in colors of black and white. There was no dinner table and no chairs in the room; though there was another entrance leading to what looked to be a pretty big table and chairs surrounding it.

He was just about to go and take a look when he suddenly heard footsteps, shortly followed by a voice behind him.

"Who are you?"

Naruto stopped and turned around as he came face to face with a man. The man had silver hair, black eyes and was wearing what looked to be some kind of cloth covering his mouth and part of his nose. He was wearing some form of suit that very much looked like something a butler from the movies would wear.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"And what, may I ask, are you doing here Uzumaki?" the man asked. His tone was flat and eyes looking serious.

_Here we go._ He thought with a sigh before he started to give his answers. "I came here because a friend of mine wanted me to take pictures of the mansion."

"Why?"

"She likes pictures of beautiful places such as this one, but doesn't have much the skill to take her own." That was not the complete truth. Sakura did have the skill but she didn't like to take pictures of something that was mostly just standing still.

"I see. But that still doesn't explain why you are here."

Naruto wasn't in need for clarification. He understood what the man meant.

"Yes, about that, um…" he trailed off, suddenly feeling very nervous as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I – I guess I just got curious of the inside. And… thought that a peek couldn't hurt, and… I'm sorry."

He looked down to avoid the other's gaze though quickly looked back up when he heard a chuckle coming from the man. When he locked eyes with the man his expression seemed more relaxed than his former one.

"That happens from time to time. You don't have to worry about it," he said kindly, his dark eyes shining.

The blond felt much better and managed a smile; it was quickly wiped off though when the two heard a voice coming from above them.

"Kakashi, bring me my tea!"

The blond looked up and saw the white-haired man sigh before yelling a "coming" to the voice. He then walked into the kitchen and started preparing tea. The blond didn't know what to do except help into making it.

The man – Kakashi – turned when he saw the blond coming towards him. He said nothing as he watched the blond look around the cabinets for some cups and a teapot.

A few minutes later Kakashi was climbing up the stairs with the hot tea balanced on a silver tray. Naruto now really felt out of place as he watched the silver-haired man disappear from view.

He turned back towards the kitchen and walked to the diner room. He sat down by the table as he waited for the silver-haired man to show up.

"You're not gone yet," he heard a voice state.

He smiled a little and looked up at the man. "I thought of looking around a bit more before I go."

Kakashi returned the smile. "It was very kind of you to help me make the tea," he said and then paused. "Do you have any other skills?"

Naruto shot him a confused look till he finally understood the meaning behind the strange question. "You want me to work here?"

The silver-haired man shrugged. "If you'd like to. It would maybe make the place a bit livelier."

The blond thought about this for a long time before he said, "I know how to cook, bake, clean and water plants. I also know how to dance, do martial arts and sing. All of these have become a form of hobby of mine, along with taking pictures of course," he finished with a smile.

The silver-haired man looked pleased before he said, "Welcome Uzumaki Naruto to the Uchiha mansion." He stretched out his hand to the blond, who shook it firmly.

What had he gotten himself into?


	3. Chapter 3: Clash of Wills

**Chapter Three: Clash of Wills**

A week had passed since that day at the mansion. Since then Naruto had prepared to take a leave from the apartment he lived together with Gaara, since that's what Kakashi had required. It had taken a while but he finally had enough stuff with him as he made his way to the mansion.

When he arrived he was greeted by Kakashi and few of the other servants. One was a guy and the other a girl.

They each introduced themselves before Kakashi went in to show him where he would sleep. They went through the kitchen and dinning room as they came into a hall with several doors. They walked to the door on the far right and the blond went over and opened it as he looked around the place.

The room didn't look too bad; it was a pretty nice size with beige walls and wooden floors. There was one bed against the wall and a nightstand beside it. There was a wooden wardrobe opposite of the bed to the wall, a drawer beside it, and a door leading into what he assumed was a bathroom.

"You'll be working with Shikamaru and Kimimaro the first couple of days till you know how things work around here," Kakashi started explaining. "You will find the required attire in the wardrobe. If you have any questions come find me. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," the blond said with a nod.

The silver-haired man smiled and relaxed in his posture. "Good. Feel free to explore for a bit before it's time to get to work."

And with that Kakashi left Naruto alone in the room. Said blond turned around and walked in, closing the door from behind. He dropped his suitcase onto the bed and put his camera bag onto the nightstand.

He looked around the room some more before he walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors. A series of black, grey and white shirts, pairs of pants, vests and ties hung in there. As he looked lower down he also noticed three pairs of fancy-looking black shoes. He closed the doors and crouched down onto the floor to check the drawers. They were mostly empty and Naruto knew that this must be where he put his own clothes in.

He shut the drawers and got up. He then walked over to the door leading to the bathroom and opened to check how it looked.

It looked well. The room had black tiled floors and white walls. There was a sink on one side, a small white cabinet with a mirror to look into above it, a toilet and shower. It looked clean and didn't smell of anything so that was a good sign he thought before closing the door.

He then went back to the wardrobe as he opened the doors and took in a deep breath as he started to get changed.

Around ten minutes later he walked out of the room wearing the "required attire" as Kakashi put it. He wore a white shirt, grey vest, grey slacks and the black shoes. He had left his camera and the rest of his things in his room, but the phone he kept in his pocket.

He shortly left the hallway as he turned at the right places before arriving in the living room with the fireplace. The fireplace was still out and no one else was inside the room, which suited him just fine.

He walked over the fireplace where the photos, crystal rose and jewelry box were resting on the mantel. He carefully picked up the small box with the ring and opened to look at it again. It truly was a fine piece of work. He had done some research on what the gemstones meant.

Apparently alexandrites stimulate pleasure and love. It is also used as a lucky stone. The amber was a stone said to protect others from any sort of illness. And the last of them all was the topaz, which is said to be a very soothing and empathic stone that heals and energizes.

He gazed at the fine piece of jewelry for a long time, not noticing someone was standing just a few feet behind him, glaring at his back.

* * *

His home had been more noisy the last couple of days. Sometimes when he took his usual walk around the mansion he would hear the servants whisper. He thought that it was a bit odd but didn't dwell on it too much as he continued on with his life.

Today was a day when the whispers seemed the loudest. He had finally had enough and wanted to escape from the noises. So he fled to the sitting room, feeling that he needed some peace and quiet. Though when he walked in another person was already there, someone he'd never seen before.

From what he could see the person had spiky blond hair and was wearing the servants' attire. He was standing in front of the fireplace, by his armchair, looking down at something.

He took a few steps till he could see what the blond was staring at. His stature froze and his blood began to boil when he saw his mother's engagement ring in the hands of some stranger. His dark eyes shone in anger as he glared at the back of the stranger who didn't seem to notice he was there, which only increased his anger.

He took a step forward and said in a commanding tone. "Who are you?"

* * *

The voice startled Naruto as he swiftly turned around only to come face to face with an angry dark-haired man. He had closed the jewelry box before he turned to see who was asking.

The person before him looked to be around his age, he had a fair complexion, jet black hair that was spiky in the back and black eyes. He felt like he had seen the guy from somewhere before when it suddenly hit him.

The photos on the mantel.

He didn't need to turn around to confirm it; he knew that it was one of the boys. He also remembered Kakashi telling him about the master of the mansion. _What was his name again? Oh right, Uchiha Sasuke._

"Who are you?" the dark-haired man repeated the question. This time it came out more like a hiss than the booming voice he'd used just a minute ago.

The blond swallowed before answering as calmly as he possibly could, "My name is Naruto."

The anger radiating from the other didn't falter one bit as his glare seemed to just intensify. He tried not to let his fear show in his eyes as he met the other's angry gaze with one of complete calmness.

They stood there; having a staring contest for a long time till the raven tore his gaze from him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The tone of his voice was like ice. It sent chills down Naruto's spine, but it wouldn't be enough to make him cower in his fear. He didn't know how to quite respond, so he tried for a playful sort of approach. Something the other would never expect and not know how to handle.

He turned to put the jewelry box back on the mantel before he sent the other a smirk and said, "What am I doing here? Isn't it obvious?" there was a pause as he waited for a response, when none came he continued. "Starting from today I'll be working here."

He noticed that the other looked a bit startled, which only made his smirk widen into a full fledged grin.

"I'll be in your care then Sasuke-sama." He gave him a mock bow and a quick wink before he left the room for the gardens.

He dropped the grin and sighed loudly, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted and stupid.

_What the hell have I just gotten myself into?_ He thought, putting his face in his hands. _I must be crazy to make the one I'm supposed to serve angry._

He sighed once more before he thought it would be safe to go in.

"I'll be in your care Sasuke-sama."

* * *

And with that the blond walked out of the room leaving the master of the mansion alone. Said master of the mansion stood there frozen on the spot till he finally seemed to snap back to reality. When he did, only one name came out of his lips.

"KAKASHI!"

A few minutes later passed before the silver-haired man came into the room.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is this some form of joke?"

The silver-haired man looked confused for a moment before it seemed to dawn on him.

"Ah. I take it you just met Naruto. He's interesting, isn't he?"

"Very," Sasuke muttered and then turned to Kakashi. "Why didn't you inform me about this?"

The silver-haired man met his gaze, completely calm as he said, "Because I knew you wouldn't approve of it. That's why I didn't tell you about it."

_Damn right I don't._

"Also, it has been too quiet here these past few years; I thought that a change was in order," the silver-haired man said with a smile.

The raven didn't look happy but he didn't say anything as he walked over to the fireplace. He picked up the small jewelry box and opened it. His mother's ring was still there, the three tiny gems shining in what light was being let in through the windows.

"Just inform him not to touch what isn't his," he said icily.

There was a small silence before the silver-haired man said, "Inform him yourself." And then turned to leave.

"You-" the raven started as he turned around, only to find that Kakashi was already gone. "Damn it," he muttered and looked down at his mother's ring again.

He walked backwards till he hit and fell into the armchair, with the jewelry box clutched onto his hands. He held the box up to his face and closed his eyes as he thought about his family.

_Mother… Father… Itachi…_

Tears began to sting his eyes and in no time at all he was crying.

* * *

It had been almost a month now since Naruto came to work in the mansion. He was settling in quite nicely and the other servants were great company so he was never lonely.

It hadn't taken long for him to realize that there were only three young women and two young men – plus him – as well as the butler Kakashi and housekeeper Anko. It was really an impressing thought that so few people took care of such a big place.

He had come to know the servants' pretty well, especially Shikamaru, Kimimaro and Tayuya.

Shikamaru was a plain and boring kind of guy who mostly liked to just sleep or look at the clouds. But despite all of this he was very smart and a great guy to ask if you had any difficulty with anything (although he would find it a pain.)

Kimimaro was a really calm and quiet guy, though he was really kind and hardworking.

Tayuya though was another story. She wasn't really quiet, calm or kind, but more like foul-mouthed and rather bossy. She wouldn't call others by their names that often, instead she would find nicknames which she thought suited those best, when most of the time it was just an insult. She called Shikamaru "lazy" most of the time, Kimimaro was sometimes "bonehead", Karin – one of the maids – was "smelly bitch" and last but not least there was Ino who was "poison ivy". Naruto had been lucky so far not to join in on the "nickname calling" as the others called it. He didn't mind if Tayuya did though, he didn't think there would be anything bigger than what he's been called before.

Though that was not all that had happened this past month. Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke since that day in the living room, but maybe that was because he was avoiding him. So far luck had been on his side and they hadn't met anywhere, though he knew that sooner or later the day would arrive when they had to come face to face with each other. And he had a feeling that it wouldn't be pretty.

It was on his fourth week in the mansion that it happened. Naruto was taking a stroll around the mansion till he arrived in the music room.

It was a big room with much space. The floor was wooden and walls a cream color. There was a black grand piano standing on the right side by a window, there also were a few other instruments hanging on the walls or in cases that stood leaning against the wall.

He walked into the room and towards the piano. He didn't know how to play but that didn't really matter as he gazed down at the keys. He then looked up and out the window before walking over and opening it, to let in some fresh air. A familiar song suddenly entered his mind as he gazed at the greenery, and before he knew it, he was singing.

* * *

The past month had been both good and bad on Sasuke's part. He was a bit irritated that the blonde was ignoring him, but also glad that he didn't have to deal with him. The encounter on that day had been on his mind for a very long time.

He sighed as he began to make his way to the music room. Playing the piano always seemed to calm him down.

As he began to approach the room he started to hear a sound from somewhere. After a moment he noticed it was coming from the music room. He opened the door slightly to look at who was singing. He stopped though when he saw the blond standing by the piano, wearing an expression filled with sorrow.

_What could he possibly be sad about?_ He thought.

He didn't linger on it though as he opened the door widely and walked in, closing the door with a rather loud bang, startling the blond.

Said blond turned around and for a moment their eyes locked before he turned away to look out again.

"You've been avoiding me," Sasuke said after a moment's of silence.

"So what?" the blond said without looking up. "I don't need to be right in front of you to be able to serve you."

The raven immediately felt his anger flare up but quickly killed it. He wouldn't let this guy make him lose it that easily. It was just something about the blond that just pissed him off.

"How are you settling in?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Fine."

"How is the staff treating you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because it's my duty. I honestly could care less how they're treating you."

There was a small pause before the blond said, "They're treating me well. I'm amazed how few people can take care of such a big place."

"Well, they do a good job in what they're doing. I can't afford weak, inexperienced staff members, I prefer to have the best."

The blond didn't like the tone of his voice. He finally turned around, eyes blank as he said, "Well, too bad then that you got me. I'm an inexperienced "staff member" as you call it," he finished with a smirk.

The raven stopped and stared at the blond for a moment. He didn't know what to say so he said nothing. He looked away and the blond did the same.

Several minutes passed before one of them did anything.

The raven walked towards the blond, taking slow strides as he approached the black piano. He stopped for a second before he sat down in front of the big instrument, his slender fingers hovering over the keys. He looked up to the blond who was still looking out the window. Deciding to ignore him he began to play.

He started off slowly. Sweet, light tunes were pooling out as his fingers wandered over the keys as he thought of happy times with his family. He later picked up the beat, the sweet music turning more frantic. It had emotion attached to it as he thought of the accident, the curse and his life now.

He played for several minutes, unaware of the pair of blue eyes that was watching him.

* * *

Naruto looked away and out on the greenery. It truly was an amazing view.

Several moments later there was some form of movement behind him, he didn't turn though as he waited till it stopped. It was quiet the first second; the next though was filled with music.

The blond glanced over at the piano, where the raven sat playing. The expression he showed was one of someone who was relaxed with a tint of warmth. His eyes were closed as his fingers gently traveled over the keys.

It didn't last for long though as the music changed. It became more… hectic. It almost scared him but he didn't look away and barely even blinked as he watched the raven. His expression had changed too, along with the music. Instead of the relaxed expression he now wore one of complete bitterness.

Suddenly the music stopped and lids opened to reveal dark eyes that turned to look up. For a moment Naruto saw a lot of emotions flash in those orbs of his. There was anger, sorrow, and loneliness before they turned back to its stony-like appearance.

The raven then turned to look down, one hand placed on the great piano while the other was placed on his thigh.

"Leave…"

The word had been spoken so quietly that the blond had almost missed it, but either way he still asked, "I'm sorry?"

"Leave."

It was stronger now. It wasn't a request he noticed, more like a demand.

He didn't question him as he turned and went to leave. As he put his hand on the handle, he turned around to look at the raven one last time before leaving the room.


	4. Chapter 4: Like Stars In The Sky

**Warning: A little bit of swearing.**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Like Stars In The Sky**

Couple of days later Naruto found himself in the kitchen preparing some breakfast for Sasuke. Ever since that day in the music room the raven had avoided him as much as possible, the blond didn't mind though as he carried on with his work. This day though it wouldn't be possible for the raven to ignore him as he approached the master bedroom where he saw Ino and Karin standing in front of the doors looking rather concerned.

He wondered why they were standing there and decided to find out as he walked up to the two young women. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Sasuke-sama won't come out of his room." Karin said. The concern in her voice was clear, which made Naruto a little uneasy.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"He's being stubborn again."

He turned around and saw Tayuya standing there with a duster in her hand.

"Again? This has happened before?"

The red-head nodded. "Plenty of times," she said. "Even before and after you came, though it seems to be happening more recently lately."

The blond thought back to the weeks but couldn't think of a single moment where this has happened. Tayuya saw straight through him as she said, "Kakashi usually gets him up before you notice. Now however, he's not here. Said he needed to take care of something and left early."

And with that she left the two maids and butler. Ino turned to him immediately after Tayuya was out of sight and said, no, more like _pleaded_ for him to help them get Sasuke out of bed. Naruto didn't really have a reason for not doing this; after all he worked here and should do as much work as possible. He sighed, giving into the girls as he stepped over to the door. He put a hand on the handle as he drew in a deep breath before opening it.

He had never been inside the master bedroom before and so the appearance that met him was a little bit unexpected. The walls were a light grey color, with wooden floors. There was a king sized bed standing against the wall to his right, with blue covers and white pillows. A dark blue rectangular rug lay under the bed and a black nightstand stood beside it. There also was a dark wooden desk and chair on his left with a book lying open, with a pen lying to the side. A shelf stood beside the desk, filled with books from up to down.

There was no light in the room when Naruto stepped in, though it wasn't needed as he could see in the dark pretty well. He walked over to the bed where he could make out his master's dark hair as well as the sound of his faint snoring. He smiled evilly as a thought struck him as he walked over to the big window that was covered by black curtains. He didn't hesitate as he grabbed the fabric and in one swift move light flooded into the room.

"Rise and shine!" he exclaimed, turning to the slightly startled, half-asleep raven.

Their eyes met briefly before the raven turned and buried his head in the pillow. He also pulled the covers up to cover his face, trying to go back to sleep again. The blond however wouldn't let him as he walked over to the bed and grabbed onto the covers to remove them.

"It's time to get up Sasuke Breakfast is ready and it won't do for it to get cold," he said with a big, teasing sort of smile.

His answer was a muttered "fuck off" and a few grumbling noises. He let go of the covers as he tried to think of a way to make the other get up. Another idea struck him as a grin so big that threatened to split his face spread out on his features.

"If you don't get up in the next five minutes, I'll carry you out."

His response from the other was a mumbled "yeah right" before it went silent again. The blonde looked down at his wristwatch as he waited for the minutes to tick by.

* * *

A wonderful silence settled into the room after the small "threat" the blonde had made. Sasuke relaxed as he seemed to sink deeper into the sheets and his soft pillow. He felt so content in his bed that when the covers were forcibly removed from his body to reveal the blond standing over him it shocked him greatly. He greeted the other with a punch but his fist didn't connect with the other's jaw as he'd intended for it to do and was instead grabbed.

He didn't know how to react when the other's tanned hand grabbed his pale one. He'd never had anyone touch him before since his parents and brother died. He had forgotten the feeling over the years. Forgotten the warmth of another human being.

The moment didn't last for long as the other let go of his hand and instead bent over as he stretched over with his arms, placing one arm under his legs and the other on his back. Sasuke was still recovering from his sleepy-state so he didn't react much when he was first lifted up till later when the drowsiness was clearing up.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" he screamed, outraged.

The blonde winced at the volume of the other but didn't put him down as he took a few steps towards the door. "I'm carrying you," he said as if it were obvious.

The raven felt his anger flare up but didn't scream when he spoke next. "I gathered that much," he spoke through gritted teeth. "Now, put me down this instant."

The blond looked like he was considering the demand before he simply said, "No." He then pushed the door open with his foot and strolled out into the hallway where Ino and Karin still stood.

When Sasuke's demand had been denied he began to throw a tantrum. He yelled in anger as he tried to get away from the blond's grip. The blond, however, was stronger than he looked and just held him tighter while he ignored the yelling.

When they arrived in the dining room the blond put down the raven that had gone quiet for several minutes after much yelling and struggling.

When Sasuke felt ground beneath his feet he felt relieved but also disappointed, he wondered why that was but didn't linger on the thought as he faced the blond with a glare. The blond seemed unaffected by the fierce look he gave him as he turned to the table.

"Breakfast will be served shortly, wait here," said the blond before he turned around and left the room for the kitchen, leaving the raven to glare at his retreating back.

Now that he was alone Sasuke let his mask slip off as some of his anger dimmed, leaving him exhausted with a slight headache. He went to sit down at the table as he waited for his breakfast to arrive.

* * *

The day came and went pretty quickly after that littler adventure he had had in the morning of waking up the raven. It had been fun but also tiresome; he hoped he didn't need to do again any time soon.

Naruto chuckled as he thought of the raven's outraged face as he walked down the dark, empty halls of the mansion. It was past ten, and all of the staff members had gone to bed. No one was around at this time of night, or so he thought. When he stepped out and into the cool night air he was greeted by someone standing by the fountain. He recognized that back but didn't quite know from where as he took a few steps forward.

"Hello?" he asked softly. He saw the person flinch and then slowly turn around. He looked into yellow eyes as he came face to face with the creature from the pictures Sakura had showed him all those weeks ago. The creature that looked human. There was something familiar about it but he couldn't quite pin-point what.

"Who are you?" he asked the creature, regarding it with curious eyes.

There was a pregnant pause before a bitter laugh escaped from the other's blue lips. A sound that made the blond shiver as he stood there, watching as the creature's shocked expression turned grim.

"Why do I still get surprised when that question is being asked? I should be used to it by now," it said in a bitter tone.

That voice.

He recognized that voice. Naruto's eyes widened when he let the sound of the other's voice sink in for a moment.

"S – Sasuke?" he asked, now staring at the creature before him.

The creature looked at him, his yellow eyes glowing in the dark as they settled onto his blue for a moment before turning away, as if ashamed.

_No way._ He thought, stunned. _All this time the creature Sakura-chan saw has been Sasuke._

He had a hard time processing this piece of information, though when he did he took another step towards the creat – uh – Sasuke.

"What happened to you?" he asked. He was both curious and a little concerned why the other man looked like this.

The raven (now with blue-grey hair) quickly looked up. Surprise was evident in his yellow eyes though it didn't last for long as they suddenly hardened.

"Why do you want to know?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes at the blond.

"I want to know because I'm curious," he said truthfully. "And I'm honestly also a little concerned."

"Concerned?" Sasuke looked at him, disbelief written all over his face. "Why would you be concerned? You have no right to be."

Naruto wanted to open his mouth and say that he had every right but thought better of it. Instead he repeated the question, "What happened to you?"

The raven didn't seem willing to answer at first, then he sighed and said, "Fine. I'll tell you. But if you tell anyone outside of here, I swear to you that I'll find you and make you wish you'd never come here."

The blond only nodded, seemingly unaffected by his threat.

Sasuke then went to explain what had happened on that rainy night eight years ago. The old woman that had come knocking on his door seeking shelter from the rain. His refusal to take her in and the threat she had made. Him closing the door only to open it again where a young woman had stood instead of the old hag. The blue rose petals she blew in his face. And finally the change in appearance whenever he went out or looked into a mirror.

When he was done Naruto just stood there for a moment in shocked silence till he finally seemed to snap out of it. He ran what the raven had told him over in his head before he looked up and asked, "Do you still have that note?"

A moment later the raven pulled out a worn-looking piece of paper from his back pocket and gave it to him. He read through the note before looking up to take a look at the transformed version of the Uchiha.

"She's wrong," he said softly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, looking at him in confusion.

"She's wrong," he repeated. "This "true monster" she's speaking of. I see no such thing. What I see is a rich, stubborn, ruthless brat who doesn't show any kindness only because he's drowning himself in his own grief."

The words the blond had spoken caught the raven completely off guard. No one had ever said that to him before.

Kakashi and Anko had been shocked to no end, neither knowing what to do or say. The maids had pitied him, which had only resulted in many tantrums being thrown. And the butlers had not reacted much at all. They had kept a cool mask on their faces but the raven had seen the fear or interest shining in their eyes, which had resulted in him not wanting to receive food from any of them for a while.

But Naruto had done none of that. He'd spoken his mind, been truthful to him of what he honestly thought. It made him want to shed tears of gratitude but he held back, swallowing thickly as he thought of what to say.

"No one's ever said that to me," he spoke softly; being truthful for once in his life after his family had died. "The others either didn't know what to do or just pitied me. I hated that. No one would tell me what I wanted to hear. I didn't exactly know what I wanted to hear at the time but I knew that it wasn't anything of what they were doing."

After he was done a silence fell. A gentle breeze blew through their hair as they each thought of what to say next.

It was Naruto who spoke next, his tone soft and sincere. "Then maybe it's time someone did. And I'll be honored to be that "someone", but only if you want me to."

Sasuke looked up and into gentle blue eyes that were filled with honesty. The posture the other wore was of one who was completely relaxed. The smile on his lips was the finishing touch that he wanted to do this.

Sasuke didn't need to think it through for long. He just nodded and with a bit of force, attempted a smile. "I'd like that."


	5. Chapter 5: Cherry Blossom Talks

**Chapter Five: Cherry Blossom Talks**

One afternoon Naruto was in the kitchen preparing tea for two. When he was done he took the silver tray with the cups and teapot and went up the flight of stairs as he made his way to the master bedroom. He stopped in front of the doors and balanced the tray on one hand as he knocked three times before opening the door. He pushed it open the rest of the way with his foot before he strolled into the room.

Sasuke was sitting on his bed reading a book when the blond suddenly came in. He looked up from it with surprise showing clearly on his face.

"Hello," the blonde greeted him with a smile as he placed the tray down on the desk.

"Hello," the raven greeted back, looking at him with a puzzled expression. What was Uzumaki doing here? He glanced over at the silver tray. Tea. Okay that made sense considering it was about tea time.

He closed the book he had been reading and put it down on the nightstand before he asked the blond to bring his tea.

The blond obeyed and poured the hot tea into a cup before walking over and giving it to the raven. Sasuke accepted it without a word and took a sip. He let the hot liquid dance on his tongue for a bit before it slid down his throat and settled in his stomach.

The raven felt content but also a bit uncomfortable. Wondering why he didn't feel at ease he looked up and saw that the blond hadn't moved from his spot beside his bed. He was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, holding an expression as if he was expecting something.

"What?" he asked after a moment's of silence.

"What do you say?"

The raven looked utterly confused now. "Huh?"

"What do you say?" he repeated.

"What - what do you mean?"

The blond sighed as he tried for a different approach. "When was the last time you apologized or thanked anyone?"

It only took a few seconds for Sasuke to understand what the blonde had been asking. When he gave him the tea he should've said "thank you" but he didn't and so the blond was waiting for him to say it.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Naruto smiled, accepting the attempt at gratitude. He turned and went to pour himself his own cup of tea before settling down on the chair by the raven's desk.

He took a sip as he watched the other.

Sasuke had gone still. The blond's question swirling around in his head. When was the last time he had apologized or thanked anyone? He couldn't remember.

The two were silent for a few more minutes, neither knowing what to really say.

Finally it was Sasuke who broke the silence with a question he'd wanted to ask the other for a while now.

"Why didn't you react differently?"

Naruto didn't need any clarification of what the other was asking about. He looked out the window, watching the blue sky as he answered the question.

"Because I don't prejudge, or I at least try not. When I first met you I thought you were a jerk who wanted to be left alone. But when I started to work here I began to observe you.

How you interacted with the staff, how you treated the others, the expressions and emotions that showed on your face. You seemed mostly angry, you treated the staff poorly, never thanking, assuring or apologizing for anything, only swearing and yelling whenever they did something wrong.

What surprised me though was that no one ever spoke badly about you. No matter how badly you treat the staff, they never speak ill of you. Do you know why that is?"

The raven shook his head.

"Because they know. They know you are struggling with your grief, and with what you have become. They know that you truly feel lost, sad and alone. They know all of this which I think is wonderful but also terrible. They know all of this and yet did nothing about it.

They never approached you; they never offered you any comfort when they could've. I know that you don't like to show any deep emotions, I understand because neither do I. But if I had to choose between crying alone, drowning myself in my own grief and being comforted by someone I've known for a while I would choose the latter. If you had a choice, which would you choose?"

Sasuke was silent.

The blond had caught him completely off guard. He felt exposed that the blond knew so much about him when he knew little to nothing about the blond. It made him feel strange inside, warm almost. Someone understood him. Someone knew what he was feeling. And not just him, the staff apparently did too.

He didn't know how to react or what to say, so he said nothing. Staying silent until their time was over and the rest of the day passed.

The next day Naruto woke up to his phone ringing. He removed the covers from his body and reached for the little machine.

"Hello?" he said into it after he had pressed the green button.

After a moment Sakura's enthusiastic voice came. _"Hello Naruto!"_

The blond smiled and swung his legs to the side. "What's up Sakura-chan?"

"_I'm going shopping, wanna come along?"_

The blond thought about it for a moment till he came to a decision. "Sure," he replied and stood up.

"_Great! I'll see you at Ichiraku then say… in an hour?"_

"Sounds awesome. I'll see you."

"_Bye!"_

And with that both hung up and he went to take a shower and dress.

Ten minutes later the blond stepped out of his room and walked to the kitchen. When he came in he was greeted by Shikamaru and Ino who were preparing breakfast.

He grabbed a piece of bread and some butter, knowing he could take some since Sasuke never ate much.

When done eating he strolled out of the kitchen on his way to the front door but stopped when he suddenly felt an urge to look at the ring. He had suppressed this urge for a long time but now it seemed to be pulling him to the living room with an immense invisible force.

He walked his way to the living room, over to the armchair, as he reached a hand to grasp the small white box that was lying on the mantel and opened it. The ring was there, its three gemstones glowing in the sunlight that was being let in.

"What is with you and my mother's ring?" a voice from behind him said.

He turned around and saw Sasuke standing there, his arms crossed over his chest and eyebrow raised in question. The blond smiled before looking back down at the ring as he started explaining.

"It's a beautiful piece of work. Who wouldn't be drawn to it?"

The raven smirked. "That's true. Though I would appreciate it if you don't touch my things."

The blond had the decency to blush but didn't make a move to put the box down. "Sorry," he said. "I just feel drawn to things like these. You said it belonged to your mother? She must've been a very lucky woman. I can see that the person who gave her this loved her a lot."

The raven took a few steps forward, curious of what he meant by that. The blond glanced up and saw the look the other was sporting and continued to explain.

"The gemstones are an alexandrite, amber and topaz, right?" the raven nodded. "The gemstones have special meanings. The alexandrite stimulates pleasure and love. The amber is said to be a stone to protect others from any sort of illness. And the topaz is said to be a very soothing and empathic stone that heals and energizes.

The person who ordered and bought this ring was probably someone who loved her a lot. They didn't just give her a ring, but they gave her their heart and probably much more as well."

The blond stopped talking, looking up from the ring only to see the raven's face stained with tears. He didn't seem to realize he was crying either because he looked to be frozen.

Naruto closed the lid and put the box down on the mantel before he approached the raven, putting an arm over his shoulder, pulling him in. He felt the other stiffen but eventually relaxed under his touch. He knew how to comfort others after being friends with the people he was friends with, that tends to get very emotional at times.

He pulled away shortly and looked into the raven's tear-stained face. He brought a hand up as he began to wipe the tears away with his fingers. The other let him, not moving from his spot as the tears disappeared from his cheeks.

The blond then looked straight into the other's dark eyes, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything though as he looked into the other's eyes. They stayed like that for a long time till Naruto seemed to remember something.

He let his hand fall from the raven's shoulder, making said raven snap out of his thoughts at the loss of the warm hand.

The blond cleared his throat before he said, "Um, well, I have to go now. I have a friend I'm meeting and it would be extremely bad if I kept her waiting." And with those words he stepped to the side, on his way out of the room but stopped and turned around to where the raven was still standing. He smiled a bit before he walked out of the room, heading to the front doors as he made his way to his favorite restaurant.

* * *

Hours later Naruto was walking alongside Sakura going to Gaara's. Ever since he moved out to live at the mansion he's been going there on the weekends, which were his days off.

It didn't take them long till they arrived and the red-head opened the door to let them in. Naruto wrapped his arm around his friend, giving him a quick hug as his greeting before taking off his shoes and walking into the living room.

The three talked for a bit over a drink about what has happened this past week. Eventually the talk turned to work, and both Gaara and Sakura were curious to know about the one Naruto worked with.

It had come as quite a shock to both when he told them that he would be working at a mansion but they were supportive on the matter. After all, it wouldn't matter what they really thought, he would still do it. Something you learned about the blond over the years.

"So, how's work Naruto?" Sakura eventually asked and took a sip of her drink.

The blond smiled, knowing his friend had been dying to ask since they met up. "It's good. I had lots of fun one of the days working."

"Oh? Care to share?"

The blond nodded as he began explaining the day he forced Sasuke out of bed. All three of them were laughing by the end of the story.

"Oh wow, that must've been fun!" Sakura exclaimed, wiping away tears of mirth from her eyes. "What happened next?"

Naruto stopped for a second. What happened next? _Well, Sasuke seemed to have been that creature you saw and took picture of all those weeks ago._ No, that didn't seem like a good thing to say so he just settled for something simple.

A couple of minutes passed till suddenly Gaara spoke up, "I'm curious about this Sasuke-person. Would it be alright if we drop by one day to see how things are?"

Before Naruto could respond to the question Sakura cut in. "That's a wonderful idea. Hey! Why not invite lots of people there. It's a pretty big mansion. Didn't it have its own ballroom? We could have a party! It would be great!"

Seeing the pleading as well as exciting look on his friend's face made Naruto give in to this idea pretty quickly. "I'll ask Kakashi and Sasuke about it." He glanced over at his wrist watch. "Oh wow, would you look at the time. I need to go."

With that announcement he got up and went over to hug his friends goodbye before he left.

When he arrived at the manor it was dark and quiet. He closed and locked the door before walking in. He was just about to walk to his room when a light coming from the living room caught his eyes. Curious about it he walked into the room.

What he found was something he had not expected as he walked up to the lit fireplace. There on the armchair sat Sasuke, his head leaning to the side, with a book in his lap and glasses sitting a bit askew on his face. He had his eyes closed, with his face relaxed, content.

The blond smiled at the raven before he went and took the book and glasses, putting both objects on the table. He then reached over and put a hand onto the other's back, with his other arm going under his legs before he lifted him up. He was as light as that day he carried him out of the bedroom, which still seemed to surprise him somewhat.

The trip to the master bedroom was short and relatively quiet. He put the sleeping form of the raven onto the soft bed, removing his shoes and pulling up the covers to his chest. He reached over to push away locks of dark hair from his face before he stood up and walked to the door.

"Goodnight Sasuke," he whispered softly into the room before he closed the door.


	6. Chapter 6: The Surprise

**Chapter Six: The Surprise**

"A party?" Kakashi asked.

It was the next day and Naruto had just told him about Sakura's idea. The silver-haired man looked a bit dubiously but also interested in the idea. The dubious side seemed to have won over as he turned to the blond.

"I'm not sure about it. It seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure how Sasuke will react. He probably won't agree to it."

"I'll ask him and convince him," Naruto said with a determined glint shining in his blue eyes.

Kakashi could only chuckle. The blond really was something. From what he had heard from the others, he apparently had been the one to successfully get the raven out of bed when he had been gone. It didn't surprise him much, what did surprise him was that Sasuke had not killed him. He had done something else instead. He seemed to finally be opening up. It seemed like to be a slow process but it was finally happening, and he was nothing but happy and relieved that the boy has found someone he can talk to.

"If you manage to convince him we'll talk," he said finally.

"Alright, I will. Just watch me," the blond said, flashing the man a big grin before he left the room for the master bedroom.

"You're truly a remarkable person Uzumaki Naruto," e said quietly, watching as the blond disappeared from his sight. He then turned as he went back to work on dinner.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Sasuke said.

Naruto had come into his room a couple of minutes before dinner spouting some sort of nonsense of some party his friend had suggested to him. The idea of throwing a party in his home was just absolutely ridiculous.

"Oh come on!" the blond exclaimed. "It'll be fun. Besides, you need to get out more. Interact, drink and dance. They are all fun things; it'll be good for you."

The raven glared at the blond. "I believe I've already told you of my "little problem" of why I can't go out to interact, drink and dance."

The blond didn't seem that affected by the raven's words as he thought he would be. Instead he just smiled and said, "Oh, I know that already. And that's exactly why I'm bringing the outside inside."

The raven sighed. He had an odd feeling that no matter what he said the blond wouldn't leave this be.

"A lot of planning will be needed."

"Kakashi will take care of it. He's the best after all."

Sasuke smiled. _No arguing with that._ "We will need dance teachers too for those who cannot dance."

"I'm an exceptional dancer. I think I'll be able to handle it."

The raven's eyes perked up a little at that. "You are?"

The blond nodded, looking rather proud of himself.

The raven looked him over for a minute before he said, "I have a hard time believing that."

"Well," the blond said with a smirk playing on his lips. "You should see me on the dance floor then. My moves are both graceful and electrifying."

The way he had said the word "electrifying" made the raven's stomach turn into knots. He didn't know why though and wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

He just swallowed down and flatly said, "I'll be the judge of that."

They were quiet for a few moments till the blond said, "So what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

The raven sighed once again and then smiled. The guy never gave up.

"Fine, it's a deal."

The upcoming days were spent in exciting chatter with the staff.

The raven found that there was barely any place inside the mansion where people weren't talking about the party they were going to have next weekend. And oddly enough it was on his birthday. The staff didn't speak of it though; it was like his birthday never existed. It was okay though because he has never liked celebrating his birthday since his parents and brother died.

He shook his head, ridding himself of any negative emotions. It wouldn't do well to start getting depressed now.

He got up from the armchair by the fireplace, not feeling up to reading anymore. He closed the book and took off his glasses, putting the objects onto the small table before he walked out of the room. He didn't really know where he was going but was surprised when his legs carried him over to the music room where the staff had gathered for some dancing lessons.

They did these lessons two times a day for around twenty minutes. The raven had never seen his staff dance before and suddenly became curious of how it looked.

He stepped over to the door and put his hand on the door handle as he slowly opened it to peer inside. The image that met him was one he had never seen before. The butlers and maids were dancing gracefully on the floor, carrying each other through the music that was playing from somewhere in the room.

He caught some words of the music. It was a nice song. He listened to the words, watching the staff continue carrying each other on the dance floor.

_I'm not perfect but I keep trying cause that's what I said I would do from the start  
I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave_

_Was it something I said or just my personality?_

_I'm not perfect but I keep trying cause that's what I said I would do from the start  
I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave_

_Was it something I said or just my, just myself?  
Just to myself? Myself? Just to myself?_

_I'm not perfect, but I keep trying._

When the music stopped so did the couples. The women curtsied and the men bowed. They then turned to a certain blond who smiled at the small group and told them what a good job they did.

The raven didn't stick around to see what happened next as he turned and left.

Hours later Sasuke found himself standing by the balcony that was connected to the ballroom. His monster-self had once again made an appearance when he stepped out and into the moonlight. He stood there, his arms hanging lazily over the railing as he watched the starry-filled dark sky.

"There you are," a voice from behind him said. He turned around only to see Naruto standing there. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

The raven didn't respond and just looked back up at the sky.

"What's up?" the blond said and walked over to stand beside him.

The raven glanced over to the blond who was looking over the forest. He then looked back up at the sky before answering.

"I came to get away. To think."

"And what are you thinking about?"

The raven shrugged. "I'm not sure. The party next weekend, my birthday…" he trailed off.

The blond looked up in surprise. "It's your birthday soon?"

The raven said nothing and just nodded.

"When?"

"July twenty-third."

"But that's when the party is."

"I know."

There was a small silence until the blond reached over to grasp Sasuke's wrist. The raven was startled out from his thoughts as he looked up at the blond.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," the blond smiled. "I just seemed to remember you saying something about judging me on my dancing skills."

The raven had a bad feeling about this as the blond pulled him back inside. He let him go when they reached the center of the room where he turned around to put some sort of object down on a nearby table. He then walked back to him, stopping right in front.

He reached over wordlessly for his wrists and guided his hands to grasp his shoulder while the other stayed in his palm. He then put his free hand to grasp his waist before looking into the other's dark eyes.

He could barely register when the music began to play as they began to move to it. They moved around pretty slow and graceful around the dance floor.

He didn't mind giving the lead to the blond. He knew he would moan about it later but for now he planned to enjoy himself.

When the song ended time seemed to stand still for the two. They just stood there, gazing into each other's eyes as if there were no worries in the world. That no curses existed, that no planning was waiting to be done, and that no deaths had occurred. That there were just them, inside the ballroom, seemingly alone in the mansion.

The spell was broken though when they heard footsteps coming from outside the doors, and within a few seconds Kakashi was poking his head inside.

"There you are. I've been looking for you two. I felt like I should let you know that dinner is ready." He glanced at the two, looking carefully at their expressions. "Did I interrupt something?"

Naruto was about to open his mouth to say something but Sasuke beat him to it. "No. We were just discussing something," he said. And without another word he left the room.

When the raven stepped out of the room he picked up the pace to the dining room. He didn't stop until he was inside, with a hand on the table to steady himself as he took in long, deep breaths.

What had just happened back there?

The question he wanted an answer to was left with no reply. There was none he could give at the moment. What had happened there, with him and Naruto was… unexplainable.

Why had he felt so content when the blond touched him? Why had he wanted to pull the other closer to him? Why had he wanted the feeling that surrounded the two never to end?

He couldn't wrap his mind around it, didn't understand what it meant.

He shook his head, getting rid of the questions and thoughts that confused him. He needed to focus now, focus on the party and on the people that would come. People he would need to interact with, not because he wanted to, but because it would be good for him just like Naruto had said.

The thoughts of the blond made him re-ask the questions over again, making him push them out again. Like he told him before, he needed to focus now. He could think about the blond and what their little moment in the ballroom had meant after the party.

* * *

It was the day the party was going to commence. The staff was in a lively, good mood as they finished the preparations for what would happen in a few hours.

They had decided long before sending out invitations to people Naruto and his two friends knew that the time of the party wouldn't begin till eight o'clock.

Half an hour before his friends and other people would start arriving the blond was pacing back and forth in front of the main doors.

He had taken to put on something he had worn to one of his friend's wedding. A white dress shirt, black slacks, same colored leather shoes and blazer. He hadn't bothered to do anything spontaneously with his hair, just washed and hair dried it like usual.

He rubbed the back of his neck; while he continued to pace in front till a voice startled him out of his nervous thoughts.

"If you don't calm down now, I swear I'll make you," said Tayuya.

Naruto barely recognized the woman at first sight, she was beautiful. She wore a long brown sleeveless dress and matching colored heels. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and had put on some light, simple make up.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, both hands on each side of her hip.

The blond couldn't help but laugh before saying, "Nothing. I just think that you look wonderful."

He was satisfied when he saw the red-head sport a faint blush and looked the other way as she muttered out, "Idiot".

He then glanced down at his wristwatch, only twenty minutes left till they arrived. He was anxious of this party, just like he had been at the wedding, being his friend's best man and all. It had been a hell of a month of planning but the outcome had been both wonderful and exhilarating so he hadn't cared much. This probably would be the same, or it would be a hell because someone would say something that would upset Sasuke. The blond grimaced at the thought, hoping no such thing would occur.

He glanced down again at his wristwatch, fifteen minutes. Soon, very, very soon this place would be buzzing with people and exciting chatter, he could almost not wait.

* * *

Sasuke was standing in the master bedroom, getting ready to go to the ballroom. He could faintly hear the chatter of people and music playing on the other side of the mansion. He was nervous, but also excited.

A knock came to the door and he spun around. "Come in."

Naruto poked his head inside, smiling at him. "Ready to go?"

The raven returned the smile hesitantly before nodding. He walked up to the blond who held out his arm with a grin. The raven couldn't help but roll his eyes before he snaked his own arm around his. They then left the bedroom, on their way to the ballroom.

The trip was spent in silence – save for the noise that could be heard throughout the whole mansion.

When they arrived at the doors the blond let go of the raven and asked him to wait outside. The raven did as told (which doesn't happen often mind you) as he watched the blond disappear behind the doors.

He waited for a few moments till he noticed the music and talking had suddenly stopped. He looked at the pair of doors, puzzled by why that was but made no move to go check it out.

After five minutes of silence he finally gave into the temptation and went to go into the room. What greeted him when he first stepped in was something he had not expected. The first thing he noted was that the room was cast in complete darkness, the second was that the people they had invited were standing around the room as if waiting for some sort of signal.

The signal seemed to have been given since the next thing he knew the lights were turned on instantly and the guests shouted out a clear, loud, "Happy birthday Sasuke!"

The raven was left speechless, one hand over his drumming heart as he looked over the small crowd in surprise.

Naruto then came over, his strides slow but long as he walked up to him, holding a wrapped up package. He came to a stop in front of him, holding out the package while he softly said, "Happy birthday."

The blond's voice snapped him out from his thoughts as he looked down at the package. He didn't know whenever to yell, smile or cry. It was the most unexpected thing that had ever happened since the blond came here.

_He probably had this all planned out after I told him about my birthday._ He thought with a shake of his head. _Unbelievable_.

He then turned back to the package and began to tear the dark blue paper wrappings. He opened the lid of the black box and was faced with a number of things.

A book made out of black leather sat at the bottom, with a pen on the side – it was most likely a journal. A small dark blue jewelry box sat on the side of the big box along with a new book to read. He ignored the book for now; curious to know what was inside the jewelry box. He picked it up and before opening the lid he turned to the smiling blond.

"I'm not really the jewelry type," he said.

"Oh, I know. But you're going to like this, trust me."

The raven turned back to the box, thinking that it couldn't hurt to trust him – this time. He slowly opened the lid and peered inside. On the small velvet cushion was a pendant with an oval-shaped ruby stone. He gazed at it for seconds, maybe even minutes. Words were caught in his throat, not knowing what to really say.

Naruto seemed to have noticed so he spoke up first. "The journal is from Kakashi, to write down your thoughts and feelings. The book is from my friend Sakura whom I've told you about. And the pendant is from me, I chose ruby because that's your birthstone."

Sasuke finally looked away from the pendant and up into blue eyes. He smiled a happy, genuine smile. Something the other staff members had never really seen before.

"Thank you."

* * *

The rest of the party past by in a blur. Naruto was glad that the surprise had been a success. He had been anxious about it, asking the people to help him out and then the present choice that he had gone through with both Kakashi and Sakura.

But it all worked out in the end and now the raven was happily dancing with his friend. He watched the two from the wall he was leaning on, smiling to himself.

The giddy feeling soon was squashed though when he saw Sakura lean in to whisper something in the other's ear. The raven chuckled, seeming to find whatever she had said funny. The huge tug of jealousy seemed to surprise him so greatly that he gasped. He put a hand over his mouth and looked around to see if anyone had heard him. No one seemed to have though, they were either too far away or the music had been loud enough to drown it out.

He steered his blue eyes back at the couples on the dance floor, now ignoring the raven and pinkette to study the others.

Tayuya was dancing together with one of Gaara's friends that he didn't know. He sounded like a sweet guy from what the red-head had told him. His gaze shifted to another pair which were his friend Kiba and his wife Hinata. They looked as beautiful and happy as they had on their wedding day; the thought brought a smile on his lips. His eyes shifted once more as he glanced over at Ino and his friend Sai, they looked like a good pair he noted and decided to tease her about it when this was all over.

The music then stopped and he glanced back over at Sakura and Sasuke. He felt the tug again when he kissed the back of her hand and she smiled at him with a light blush gracing her face. He then watched as she made it over to the musicians and to the mike.

"Good evening everyone. My name is Haruno Sakura and would like to introduce our singer for this next song. Give a warm applaud for our friend Uzumaki Naruto," she said and looked over where the blonde was standing, shocked.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the clapping and cheering. He sighed. _Damn you Sakura-chan._ He thought with a tight smile.

He then left the place against the wall and made his way to where she had stood. He grabbed onto the microphone as he looked over the crowd, his blue eyes landing on Sasuke.

"Thank you. I have no songs really prepared because a certain someone didn't tell me about this," he glared at Sakura who only smiled at him. "So I'll just be singing a song called Stormy."

And with that the music began to play and he started singing.

_Wind blow, rain fall_  
_We've faced, it all_  
_There's still some use in trying_

_Hands up, heads down_  
_Baby if you think there's no way out_  
_Somewhere, the sun's still shinning_

_Dark skies tell no lies_  
_Like your stormy eyes_  
_If it's cold tonight_  
_I'm here now_

_It's stormy out so baby let me in_  
_I can help I know I can_  
_Together we're never gonna fall_

_It's stormy now but the sun's gonna shine again_  
_Even the worst storms gotta end_  
_We're better if we weather it all_  
_Together we're never gonna fall_

_Boom, crash, all night_  
_You scream, we fight_  
_These words they strike like lightning_

_Dark skies tell no lies_  
_Like your stormy eyes_  
_If it's cold tonight_  
_I'm here now_

_It's stormy out so baby let me in_  
_I can help I know I can_  
_Together we're never gonna fall_

_It's stormy now but the sun's gonna shine again_  
_Even the worst storms gotta end_  
_We're better if we weather it all_

_It's stormy out so baby let me in_  
_I can help I know I can_  
_Together we're never gonna fall_

_It's stormy now but the sun's gonna shine again_  
_Even the worst storms gotta end_  
_We're better if we weather it all_

_It's stormy out_  
_Together we're never gonna fall_  
_It's stormy now_

_When you breakdown, when you can't take it all_  
_When you're slamming your fist against the wall_  
_Thunder can sound so frightening_


	7. Chapter 7: Vortex of Emotions

**Warning: Some awkward moments.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Vortex of Emotions**

Naruto was lounging on his bed, hands put behind his head as he gazed up into the ceiling. He glanced over at the digital watch that read it was three in the morning. He breathed out a sigh and then rolled over on his side, closing his eyes.

He pictured the people that had been dancing. Gliding over the dance floor, giving of graceful moves as he stood there, looking over them as he sung. Though his eyes had only been focused on a certain pair.

He opened his eyes and decided to get up. He left the warmth and comfort of the bed as he strolled out of the room. He made his way outside pretty quickly, breathing in the cool night air. He looked up to where the stars were shining; they reminded him of Sasuke's yellow eyes in his beast form (that's what he called it now).

He knew now what this odd little picture presented. It was like living in a fairy-tale. Only that the fairy-tale didn't quite feel like one when you saw two of your friends look so happy together.

He sighed once again. The picture they had made together was a good one. They looked perfect for each other, but the problem was that he didn't want them to look perfect together. He didn't want the raven to be perfect with anyone besides…

He shut his eyes, willing the thoughts to go away. He'd been thinking this over for hours. What were his true feelings towards the raven? That question had been bugging him for quite some time and he still had no answer for it.

"Taking a night stroll?" a voice from behind him asked. He turned only to see Kakashi walking up to him.

"I couldn't sleep," he said and went back to look up at the sky.

"I'm not surprised," the man said, speaking in a calm manner.

There was a silence between the two men until the older one said something that had the blond turn to him to listen closely.

"I'm really glad you let your curiosity run wild that day. Without you, Sasuke would never have been able to open up to us, and to others."

The blond nodded, accepting the praise but the sadness in his eyes didn't falter.

"Something's bothering you," Kakashi stated.

Knowing that it was no use in hiding anything from the observant man he nodded once again.

"And it has something to do with Sasuke."

Another nod.

The silver-haired man was silent for a moment, as if choosing what words to say next. "Does it have anything to do with Haruno and him?"

Naruto looked at the man in surprise. He didn't think he had been that obvious, but it seemed like he had.

Kakashi saw the expressions flittering across the other's face and said, "You were staring at them the whole time you were singing."

That statement he couldn't argue with, so he just looked away, lowering his head.

"What was it that made you look at them? Was it because you were curious? Or protective of your friend? Or was it-"

"Jealousy," Naruto interrupted the man. "I was jealous."

"Of who?"

_Of Sakura because she seems to be stealing Sasuke away from me. _He thought and shook his head with a small smile gracing his lips. That just sounded ridiculous.

"I don't know," he finally said after a moment. "I guess because I was the only one who was able to make him smile and laugh."

There was a pause before he continued, this time sounding torn between laughing and crying because he was being so ridiculous.

"This is absurd." He shook his head and took a few steps towards the fountain. "Why am I feeling this way after only a few months?"

The silence was his first answer until Kakashi answered his question with words. "I don't know why you're feeling the way you are. But what I do know is that you two belong together, whenever as friends or something more."

The blond snorted. "I have a hard time believing that."

The silver-haired man shrugged. "Well, you'll never know it until you try and see."

He looked back at the older man now, going over his words.

"I'll think about it," he finally said.

"Good. Now go to bed. Sasuke won't be pleased if you lose anymore sleep than necessary."

The blond couldn't help but chuckle. "Why does he even bother?" he didn't wait for a reply as he made his way inside.

"Because he cares about you in the same way you care about him. You two just don't want to admit it in fear of the other turning their back on you," he said into the silence. He then shortly made his way back inside, wondering how the boys would precede this.

* * *

The upcoming weeks were pretty silent except for the occasional giggle and exciting chatter from the maids. Naruto had done exactly what he'd promised Kakashi and thought about what he had said. And it hadn't taken him more than four days for him to admit that he liked Sasuke more than a friend.

He noticed it on the third day when the raven had been stubborn again for not wanting to get up. The way his creamy skin had glowed in the sunlight and the way his dark hair was splayed across his face had made his heart skip a beat. It had left him confused but also warm inside. And when he went to pick him up, skin touching against skin, he knew. He knew he liked him, and he hoped that the small displays of flirting he's shared with the other wouldn't be pushed away but returned.

He was sitting one afternoon with the raven in the library, book opened up in front of him and a tray of tea sitting in the middle of the table. Sasuke's been filling him in about the history of the Uchiha's, something he'd not been very keen on but not totally against.

They talked about different parts of history along with their family.

Minutes passed on quickly and the tea had long gone cold. Naruto got up to reheat it, though in his haste to get the tray he stumbled over a pile of books. He both felt and saw himself falling to the floor but never collided as a pair of slim yet strong arms grabbed a hold of him.

He looked up and into concerned dark eyes. An emotion the raven had rarely showed since they became friends. But that wasn't all. They were inches from each other's faces and that – Naruto noted – was a bit dangerous.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The blond didn't know what to do. Half of him wanted to lean in and close the distance between the two but the other, more reasonable half told him to get up and get out of there as soon as possible.

"Naruto?"

The blond snapped out of his thoughts.

"Y – Yeah, I – I'm fine," he stammered and then straightened up. He noticed that even though he was standing up straight now, the raven hadn't let go of him.

That's interesting.

"Are you sure?"

He snapped his attention back in front. "Y – Yes." He swallowed down thickly, hoping against hope that the other wouldn't see straight through him. "Yes," he repeated, more strongly this time.

He saw the dark eyes searching his face for something. He seemed to have found it since he finally let go of him and turned to sit back down.

He inwardly sighed in relief and then reached for the silver tray. "I'll be back in a minute," he said and then walked out of the room.

* * *

The raven watched as the blond got up from his seat and went to retrieve the tray. Before he could even think of stretching his arms though, he began to fall. He didn't think as he quickly got up from his seat to catch the blond before he collided with the stone floor. One arm was wrapped around his waist, with the other over his shoulders.

He looked down at the blond, their faces mere inches away from each other, though that didn't bother him at the moment as he asked, "Are you alright?"

The blond looked up to meet his gaze. He couldn't quite define what the emotion in his eyes was, but the silence that met him made him feel a bit uneasy.

"Naruto?"

The call of his name seemed to bring back the blond from wherever his mind had traveled to.

"Y – Yeah, I – I'm fine," he stammered and then went to straightened himself up, which he helped him with. He didn't let him go though, even after he was standing straight. He felt like he needed the contact, the warmth of another person.

"Are you sure?" he asked just to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Y – Yes." The stammering of the blond did nothing to reassure him, but had no time to speak before he repeated his answer, more strongly this time.

He looked into the blue eyes as if searching for something. He could see a sort of discomfort in his eyes and maybe even fear, but he couldn't quite place if it was because he was still holding him or if it was because of something else.

He finally stepped away after a minute to go sit back down on his seat. He saw in the corner of his eye the blond visibly relax, which only raised more questions.

"I'll be back in a minute." He heard the blond say after taking the tray and walking out of the room.

When he couldn't hear the footsteps of the other he let his calm mask slip completely as he buried his face in his hands.

_This is not good._ He thought and let out a frustrated sigh.

After the party, or ball, or whatever it had been he'd been thinking about Naruto the following days. He still wondered of that day in the ballroom when they had been dancing. It had been fun and he'd felt so safe in the arms of another man. There was just one problem, was it okay for him to feel like this?

He honestly could care less whenever he was gay or not, that wasn't the point. The point was that it was Naruto.

He could tell that what he was feeling for the blond wasn't only just friendship, but also something more. And the blond probably felt something too – if the flirting and instinctive touches were any indication.

But the way he had looked at him when he held him in his arms didn't look like someone who was seeing him in that kind of light. He had looked rather frightened. It had confused him greatly. Why had he looked at him that way? Was he afraid of him? He shook his head. Impossible. He had stood up to him before and had no problem doing it, like he's done it many times before. In fact he had told him that his friend Sakura used to throw lots of tantrums, though instead of him who mostly barked she would actually bite.

The thought brought a smile to his lips though it vanished as soon it had arrived. The thought of the blond would simply not leave his mind. There was something there. Something the other wouldn't tell him. Did he like him too but was too afraid to do anything like him?

He thought about that possibility and it could be likely. But if he was afraid then shouldn't he keep his distant from him instead of flirt and touch him? That was one thing he did not understand.

It would make more sense if he stayed away because then he would know. Was he just playing with him then? That thought sent a chill down his spine and made his stomach knot itself strangely.

Was he just acting the way he was to get under his skin? He did not like where his thoughts were going now and decided to not think about it at all.

But one thing was for certain. He would find out what was going on.


	8. Chapter 8: Shot In The Dark

**Warning: A bit of violence and gore.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Shot In The Dark**

It had been around a month since the ball/party. July had come and gone and August was just rolling in. Days after days the blond and raven still hadn't gotten any closer to telling the other about their feelings.

One late evening Naruto was lying on the couch in the living room, reading. It had been quiet for days, which had made him feel a bit restless. He and Sasuke hadn't talked much since that day in the library. He missed their time together. Missed them talking about everything and nothing. Missed the raven's company.

He sighed heavily.

This wasn't working. He needed to find Sasuke. To talk to him. And in hope, to tell him how he feels. He placed the book on the coffee table and got up from the couch, ready to go find the raven but was stopped when he heard a crash coming from the kitchen.

Bewildered he ran into the room only to come to a scene he never thought he would ever see. One of the windows were broken, there were glass shards decorating the floor and men wearing cloaks standing around. It was silent for a moment with the men stopping to stare at the blond for a second before three of them withdrew knives from their pockets.

_Oh man._ Thought the blond before he began to run.

He dodged their punches and slashes with the knives till one managed to make a cut on his arm, drawing blood. He looked at it for a second before his gaze turned back up.

_Now you've done it._

He went in, grabbing one of the men's arms as he tried to cut him and without much thought, threw him onto the ground. The other men were motionless for a moment as they looked at the blond in surprise but didn't stay like that for long as they resumed fighting, trying to land in a blow or two on him.

Moments later just one of them was standing. He was a few feet away from the blond, but that wouldn't be a problem as he went to take him down as well.

He, however, did not expect the man to pull out a gun and point it at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and closed his eyes as he prepared his body for the pain that would occur. It never came though and he opened his eyes slowly to see what was going on. What met him was a different kind of scene that almost made his smile.

Standing behind the man holding the gun was Sasuke. A gun of his own in his hand as he pointed it at the guy's head.

* * *

Sasuke had had a nice little evening reading while having a snack when suddenly there had been a crash and later the sound of feet and then groans coming from bellow. Curious of what it could possibly be he got up from the comfort of the bed and went out of the room. The sight that met him had been rather unexpected.

There were men lying unconscious on the floor, with Naruto standing in the middle taking out the rest by using hand to hand combat. It was quite a sight to see him fight. How his biceps flexed and showed of his muscles made his throat feel a bit dry.

He watched him what seemed like for hours until there was only one of them left standing. He'd also had to move down since Naruto had moved to the sitting room as he fought the creeps.

He watched the blond run forward, ready to take down the man head on. He smirked a little at that but his smirk soon vanished when he saw the man pull out a gun.

The raven didn't wait to see what the blond did next as he hurried up back to his room and to the desk drawer where his father's old gun rested. He grabbed it, and praying he wasn't too late made his way back down as quickly and quietly as he possibly could.

It seemed that he wasn't too late as he walked over and pointed the gun to the man's head.

"Drop the gun, now," he said. His voice commanding and ice cold.

The man didn't move. Either too stupid or too shocked to obey. The raven moved the gun closer to his head.

"Was I not clear enough?" he hissed out. "I said: Drop the gun."

The man seemed to listen to him this time and dropped the weapon. It made a noise as it fell to the ground, and before he could even blink, the raven hit the back of his head and he fell into a heap on the floor.

"Sasuke…"

The call of his name brought his gaze up to meet the blond's blue eyes. He dropped his father's old gun and without much of a thought ran up and threw his arms around the blond, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

He felt the other stiffen but eventually relax under his touch, wrapping his own arms around his torso.

They pulled away for a moment.

"You big idiot," Sasuke said, feeling relived that the other wasn't hurt.

The blond couldn't help but smile. "Yes. I'm an idiot. But a very brave and strong idiot, don't you think?"

The raven couldn't help but laugh.

They were so happy and relieved to see each other that neither noticed one of the men wake up.

They embraced one more time and then turned to take care of the men that were lying on the floor. As the raven turned around, he saw one of the men had woken up, crawled over and was holding the gun the other had been holding. He could clearly see where it was aimed at and went to protect the blond before the other pulled the trigger.

* * *

Naruto didn't know what happened. One second everything was wonderful, he felt relieved to seeing Sasuke and was happy that he was there. And the next, there was a loud noise and said raven jumped in front of him, as if shielding him from something.

His questions were answered the minute the raven staggered back and fell on him. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around the other, his hand brushing upon something wet. He pulled his hand back only to stare at it in horror.

_Blood. No._

The weight in his arms became heavier.

_No, no, no._

He kneeled down and pulled the body towards him. Tears prickling in his eyes as he watched the raven, _his_ raven in pain, fighting to stay awake. He laid a hand over the wound as he held onto the other's shoulders tightly.

He didn't know what was going on in the background and he honestly didn't care, though he could make out Kakashi's voice along with a few others.

Noises that his brain couldn't pick up went of in the background. Only the shallow breathing of the person lying in his arms was the thing he could hear.

He felt himself move a shaky hand to touch the other, pushing strands of dark hair away from his face as he continued to struggle with his breathing. He felt his lips move to whisper words he didn't know the meaning of. He could also feel the tears that's been building up in his eyes fall.

_Don't die. Please don't die. Please Sasuke. Don't die._


	9. Chapter 9: Three Simple Words

**Warning: A bit of swearing, gore and sweet moments.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Three Simple Words**

The upcoming week had been a blur for the blond. It had been filled with tears, worry and finally relief when he'd found out Sasuke was going to be alright.

The blond now lied in bed. His eyes were bloodshot from all the crying he'd been doing, both sad and happy tears. He doesn't remember the last time he has cried like this, if ever.

He blew out a breath, feeling exhausted both in body and mind. It was official now he guessed. He didn't just like Sasuke. He loved him. And that made him feel even more tired.

He rolled over on his side as he thought about what to do next.

Should he confess his feelings for the guy now that he was certain? Or should he wait a while to see if the other felt anything? He didn't quite know yet.

He rolled back on his back, his eyes staring up and into the ceiling.

Well, whatever he did now. Would either give him great sadness or great happiness, he preferred to have the latter.

He slowly closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep. The final thing that he saw before he fell unconscious was a pair of dark eyes and a sincere smile on a pale face.

* * *

Okay, what the fuck was going on.

That is what Naruto wanted to know at least.

Ever since Sasuke had fully recovered from his wound he had all but ignored the blond. And when he did talk to him, it wasn't in a friendly kind of manner. The blond was confused, hurt and a bit concerned. He tried to get through to the other, but nothing seemed to work. Finally he just began to ignore him as well. He'll come to him once he'd cooled off.

Though when August was over and September rolled in, he wasn't so sure anymore, which only seemed to make the pain in his heart increase.

One afternoon where he thought things couldn't get any worse, they just got.

He was carrying a silver tray with dishes through the hallway, on his way down the stairs. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he suddenly lost his footing and fell down the stairs.

There was a crash and then a few loud thuds until he finally collided with the floor.

_I just have the worst luck._ He thought, groaning as he rubbed the back of his head. He then went to slowly sit up. He placed his hand to the side for support, but quickly drew it back when he winced in pain.

_I'm defiantly cursed. _He thought with a scowl, looking down at the shards beside him and then at his bloodied palm.

He then made a move to get up again but before he could even move a muscle, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned and came face to face with someone he least expected to see. But he was kind of relieved by it, even though it didn't show on his face.

"Are you alright?" concern was clearly written on the other's pale face.

_Okay, that's it. Something's defiantly wrong here._

"I'm fine," he said and went to stand up. He noted that the hand on his shoulder hadn't moved away. He was interrupted by his thoughts by the raven though when he began to speak.

"What's this?"

Before the blond could react the raven had grabbed his wrist and pulled the bloodied hand towards him for inspection.

"It's nothing," Naruto said trying to take back his hand but the other seemed to have him in a death grip.

"Nothing?" he said and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. Before the blond could protest he put the cloth over the wound and pressed, making the other wince. "Doesn't seem like nothing to me."

Naruto said nothing as he watched the raven clean up his blood. Meanwhile he studied the other's face. He looked focused on making the handkerchief absorb every last drop of his blood, it was a lost cause though since after he had wiped some away, more seemed to ooze out of the wound. Finally the raven left the wound alone but still held onto the other's wrist as he dragged him into the kitchen.

Naruto watched Sasuke move around, searching through the cabinets until he found a small white first aid kit box.

He then went to drag the blond to the dinner room and pulled out a chair. "Sit down," he said, the tone of his voice leaving no room for an argument.

The blond did as told while he continued to watch as the raven crouched down on the floor in front of him to take care of the wound. When his hand was wrapped up in bandage, he quietly watched the raven get up, seemingly ready to leave. The blond quietly watched him leave as he came to a decision in his mind.

_This can't continue._ He finally thought and got up.

In a few quick strolls he had reached the raven and stretched over with his uninjured hand to grab his shoulder and spin him around. Shocked dark eyes met his determined blue for a split second before he leaned in and pressed his lips on the man's.

* * *

Sasuke's breath was taken away the second he felt the soft lips press against his own. He melted into it as he pushed back.

The kiss didn't last for more than a minute, but it was enough to leave both breathless.

At one point one of Naruto's hands had been placed on his shoulder, while the other was wrapped around his waist. The raven looked up and into the blue orbs of the blond that were looking at him with such fondness in them.

He swallowed down thickly. Could this mean what he thought it meant? He was about to ask but the blond beat him to it, his voice soft and full of emotion.

"Sasuke…" the sound of his name spoken so softly made something in his chest tighten, though it was nothing in comparison to what was said next. "I love you."

His heart fluttered at those three simple words. Words he'd longed to hear again. Words he'd forgotten the meaning of until he met Naruto.

He could feel tears pricking in his eyes. He didn't know why but he felt like crying for some unexplained reason.

He gave the blond a watery smile as he said, "Me too. I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10: The Best Christmas Present

**Warning: Some sweet moments and mentions of sex.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: The Best Christmas Present**

Ever since that day when they confessed to each other everything changed for the better. Sasuke no longer hid his feelings behind an emotionless mask from others. He was open and honest. Thanking, assuring and apologizing when it was necessary. He was everything he had never been before, of course he was still somewhat cold when in a bad mood and short-tempered, but he had changed a lot the last few months.

It took some time for the change to happen, though when it did it didn't go away like many of the staff members thought. It was still there. His dark eyes that were mostly dull and shadowed were shining with joy. Instead of a frown or expressionless face he was smiling and laughing more and more.

He seemed to finally be truly happy. Though there still was that issue with going out. Even though Sasuke has shown kindness and compassion the curse had not lifted. He was in no hurry though; too happy to care when the source of all his happiness was right within his reach.

The sun began to come up on the horizon, its rays of light shining through the window on the bed where the two boys slept. They stirred but did not awaken as the sun kept on going up until it was in place on the blue sky, only then did one of them rise.

Eyelids opened up to reveal a pair of blue eyes that quickly shut because of the bright light in the room. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes before he carefully untangled himself from his lover's limbs and then sat up. He stretched a bit while yawning, rubbing the back of his neck.

He looked towards the window where the outside was coated with thick layers of white snow. He smiled a little and then turned to look at the still sleeping raven. He watched the pale complexion of his lover, to his tousled dark hair and then the rise and fall of his chest.

He stretched a hand over to stroke the other's hair, the feeling of the soft strands felt absolutely wonderful under his fingertips.

"What are you doing?" he heard a muffled voice from below.

He looked down and into the dark eyes of his lover.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

The other shook his head as his lips turned up into a small smile. He then moved closer to the blond, putting his arms around him as he leaned his head on the other's chest.

They stayed like that for a while. Just lying there – content – in each other's arms.

After a moment of comfortable silence between them they leaned in for a kiss. It started of soft and sweet though it didn't take long for it to heat up.

Naruto started placing open mouthed kisses along the raven's pale neck, making a trail down to his exposed chest. Sasuke moaned, slightly muffled by the hand covering his mouth.

The blond worked his way down, enjoying the sounds he was inflicting on the other. When he reached for the other's dark blue pajama pants the door suddenly burst open to reveal Tayuya.

"Rise and shine you two!" she exclaimed, looking over at the two men on the bed, her gaze unfazed of what she saw.

It was still kind of new to the other two maids to see the two men in bed together. So when it came to waking them up that duty was handed over to either Kakashi or Tayuya.

Naruto groaned a little inwardly as he got off Sasuke who glared daggers at the red-head.

"Bad timing," he said not ceasing the glaring. It did nothing to the red-head though, still wearing the same expressionless mask.

"It never is a good timing when it comes to you two," she said shrugging.

"She has a point," the blond whispered to the raven that merely dropped his eyes and rolled over.

"Oh no. It is time to get up not go back to sleep," the red-head said. Her brown eyes firmly set on the Uchiha as she put her hands on her hips.

"You better listen to the lady," the blond said, patting the raven on the back. "Before she finds a bucket and goes out to scope up some snow to pour on us."

The raven sat up immediately, turning to the blond. "She wouldn't dare."

"Oh she would, wouldn't you Tayuya?"

"It's not what I really had in mind, but I like the idea," she said with a small smirk. "I'll give you forty minutes to shower and get dressed. If you aren't down by then, we'll see what I'll do." And with that she was gone.

Naruto turned to Sasuke who had gone out of bed pretty quickly and stood now in the doorframe of the bathroom.

"Are you coming?" he asked with a seductive smirk.

The blond gave his own smirk and walked over to stand in front of the raven. He leaned in and captured the soft-looking lips in a chaste kiss, putting one hand on the back of his neck, with the other resting lazily on his hip.

The raven wrapped his arms around the blond, pulling him in close to deepen the kiss. He then backed away with the other following him in until they were standing inside the shower stall.

They broke away to breath, smiling, while watching each other with lust and affection.

"We have a little over thirty minutes before we need to go down," the blonde said, trailing down kisses along the other's jaw down to his neck. "What do you say?"

The raven didn't need to think it through as he captured his lover's lips in a heated kiss. "I say that I must be stupid to refuse something like that."

* * *

Thirty-five minutes later the two came down the stairs. Both freshened up and clean as they made their way to the dining room. Once they arrived they took their spot opposite of each other before digging into their meal.

After breakfast the two took a stroll down the mansion before they took their coats and went out into the cold. The beast once again made an appearance when Sasuke stepped out and into the cool air. Naruto grabbed his hand, careful to avoid the sharp claw-like nails as they strolled around the gardens.

The twigs and some of the leaves of the rose bushes were frozen, just like the ground they were walking on was. Snowflakes fell from the sky and stuck onto their hair.

"Will you stay with me here, forever?" Sasuke said after a few moments of silence. His breathe coming out in white puffs of hot air.

"Forever is a very long time," Naruto began. "But I'll stay for as long as you want me to."

The raven smiled. His yellow eyes looking into blue as he leaned in for a kiss.

The blond returned the kiss and then pulled away as they made their way back to the mansion. Both unaware of the person standing a few feet away from them, a small satisfied smile gracing their lips as the boys disappeared into the mansion.

* * *

"Merry Christmas Naruto, Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed as soon as she spotted the two. She gave both of them a bear hug and wink before she went back to her date.

It was Christmas Eve today and both men had decided to have a Christmas party for everyone they both knew and didn't. Most of them were people Naruto knew while Sasuke knew only a few like Sakura, Kiba, Hinata and Gaara.

The party had been going on for a few hours now.

The ballroom was decorated in colors of white, green and red. There was a big Christmas tree standing on one side of the room with piles and piles of presents that were from the people who had come.

Sasuke and Naruto were standing by the tables, holding hands while looking over the dancing couples. When the song ended two people came up to them.

"How are you doing, bud?" the brunet asked with a big grin.

"I'm doing well. How are you guys doing?" the blond said.

"Great! Actually, it's better than great."

"Oh, how so?"

Kiba put an arm around his wife's shoulders and said, "Because we're going to be parents soon."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?" nod was given. "Congratulations. When will you be due Hinata?"

"S – Somewhere in August," she said softly. "W – We wanted you to be the first to know. A – And we were wondering if you w – would like to be the godfather of our c – child."

The blond felt happiness wash over him and he smiled. "I'd be honored."

And with that the married couple left, leaving the two lovers to themselves.

When the blond turned, the raven was holding out a hand.

"May I have this dance?"

"Of course," the blond said and accepted the hand as they went to the dance floor.

Minutes later the two had separated and now was mingling together with other people. Naruto still kept a close eye on his lover who was surrounded by women. He looked calm but his body language said that he felt very awkward.

He took pity on his lover and was about to save him but was stopped by someone calling his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

He turned around, coming face to face with a beautiful woman with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and brown eyes. She wore a long red dress with the pattern of white flowers on the upper part of the dress and red heels.

"Yes?" he said, wondering who this woman could be.

"My name is Tamaki," she introduced herself, stretching a hand out to him.

He instinctively took her hand and gave a small shake before leaning over and placing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"Should I know you?" he asked after a moment's of silence.

"No. But your friend should," she said and nodded towards Sasuke who was still standing in the group of females.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and then it seemed to dawn on him on who this person was. He looked back at her to ask. "Are you-"

She nodded, cutting him off.

A silence fell between them before the brunette said, "Walk with me." And turned as she began to walk away.

The blond was uncertain on what to do but finally decided onto follow her.

They walked in silence until they reached the front doors of the mansion. Only then did she turn around to face him.

"You're wondering why I brought you here."

The blond didn't trust his voice to speak so he just nodded.

"Did he tell you about what I did?"

"Yes."

"Did he also tell you why?"

"It was because he showed no compassion or kindness."

She nodded. "Yes."

"Why did you do it though? I can kind of understand why but I also can't. It feels like there's more to tell than you let on."

She looked back at him, brown eyes meeting blue head on.

"You're correct. There's more to the reason than just that."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to explain.

"But I'm sorry to say. I can't explain."

"Why not?"

"I promised Itachi-san not to say a word."

The name of Sasuke's deceased older brother brought up questions. He asked none though as he waited for her to speak again.

She turned to the door and opened it. Cool wind was let in, blowing out the candles that had been lit in the room. She stepped out until she was on the porch before she turned to Naruto, inquiring him to follow her. He did, stopping right in front of her where she put a hand on his chest.

"This is where it began… and it's where it will end," she said.

A blue light appeared making Naruto shield his eyes. When it had dimmed he opened them again only to realize she was gone. Only a few blue rose petals remained where she had been standing.

He looked down to his hands, wondering what this meant.

"Naruto."

The call of his name snapped him out of his thoughts as he turned to look to the entrance to the living room where Sasuke stood. There was a questioning look in his dark eyes as he watched his lover standing by the open door.

"She was here," he said softly, looking out to the forest.

Sasuke didn't need any clarification on who the blond was talking about as he walked towards him and pulled him into a hug. The blond returned the hug before they pulled away to look into each other's eyes.

"Did she do anything to you?" the raven asked.

The blond shook his head. "I don't think so. But… she said something kind of unsettling."

"What?" the worry in the other's voice was so clear it made him almost smile.

"I'll tell you later," he promised and then leaned in to kiss him.

The kiss was… different than the others they had shared together. A strange surge of warmth flowed through their bodies; it was gone as soon as they pulled away.

"What was that?" Naruto breathed out, looking around a bit dazed.

"I don't know. But I don't like it." Sasuke said, just as dazed.

The blond had a sudden urge to turn around to look out. He did so and saw a small object sitting on the side of the fountain. He left the warmth of his lover's arms and walked towards it.

When he was in front he could see that it was a box wrapped up in silver paper with a white ribbon. He picked up the box and turned to his lover only to gape in shock.

"Sasuke…"

"What?" the raven asked, oblivious to what the blond was seeing.

He had just walked out to see what the matter was with his lover. He brought a hand up to run over his hair but stopped when he saw pale flesh.

_What?_

He looked down at his hands, which hadn't changed one bit even though he was standing out in the open. He brought them up to feel his hair, it wasn't long.

A feeling of joy exploded in his chest as tears of relief filled his eyes. He looked up and into his lover's still stunned expression. He hadn't moved from his spot.

"It's broken," Sasuke said softly.

The sound of his lover's voice made him snap back into reality. He walked up and wrapped his arms around the raven, _his_ raven.

They stood there for a long time until a gust of wind reminded the two they were outside in the cold without coats. They walked back inside and closed the door before making their way to the living room

They sat down on the couch, leaning against each other, just looking into the fire until Naruto remembered the box he had picked up.

"What do you reckon it could be?" he asked his lover who looked up.

"I don't know," he said and studied the box. "Why don't you open it?"

The blond nodded and went to slowly untie the ribbon and remove the lid. Inside of the box were another, smaller box and a note. He picked up the note and opened it.

It read:

_I'm sorry for casting that spell on you to begin with Uchiha Sasuke. But understand, the spell did much more than turn you into a monster, it made you able to find the love of your life._

_I cannot tell you why I did this, since it's not my story to tell. I just wanted to let you know that I did this as a favor for the person I love, and I hope you have a wonderful life._

_Sincerely, Tamaki._

Sasuke read the message a second time, wondering why she couldn't tell him the reason for casting the curse to begin with. He looked over at Naruto who had opened the lid of the other box, and was staring at it.

He leaned over to take a look himself and his eyes couldn't help but widen. There, on the small velvet cushion sat two silver bands with a small round jade stone. There also was another note inside.

Sasuke picked it up and opened it. He almost broke down in tears when he read through it.

_The bastard. _He thought with a faint smile.

It read:

_To my lovely younger brother and his future love. May these rings protect you when I can't. I wish you all the happiness in the world._

_Sincerely, Uchiha Itachi._

Naruto reached for the note and scanned through it before he put the box down on the table with the rings. He then reached for his love, kissing the top of his head as he just sat there, holding him.

"He was a good man your brother," he whispered into his lover's hair.

"I miss him…"

He looked over at the mantel where the pictures rested. "I know, I know."

They pulled away shortly, the raven sniffed, wiping the tears away before he looked over the rings. A hand patted him on the shoulder and he looked up.

"Shall we try them on?" Naruto asked with a warm smile.

Sasuke swallowed before nodding.

The blond reached for the rings and put one on his left fourth finger before putting the other on Sasuke's. They were a perfect fit and they looked at the rings in wonder for a moment before leaning in for a kiss.

"Merry Christmas Sasuke."

The raven smiled fondly. "Merry Christmas Naruto."

**The End**


End file.
